Bloody Promise
by TheHauntedPencil
Summary: Promises saturate the friendship between Hanabusa and Akatsuki, promises that Akatsuki must make to soothe Hanabusa's worries about Akatsuki ending their friendship. As they grow up he realizes, however, that vows of friendship aren't the only promises that he wants to make to his best friend. This begins when they are young children but the next chapter skips to high school.
1. Prologue

"Hanabusa, you've been awake all day, and your mother said that I should make sure you sleep. Please, just go to bed and get a few hours of sleep before your parents find you. Besides, you're keeping me up." The young, fiery haired vampire implored of his stubborn relative. Akatsuki Kain had all but given up on his cousin, but he was persistent because he knew that the last thing he wanted to do was let Hanabusa's mother find him awake at dusk.

The boy being addressed glanced over his shoulder from his desk where he had a particularly difficult book that he had buried his nose in at his desk purely to go against his cousin's wishes, and perhaps also to show off.

"Akatsuki, cut it out. I know the only reason you're here is so my mother and father could have you keep an eye on me, but you needn't rub it in." The shorter boy pushed his chair away from his desk, so he could look at his cousin a dramatic pout on his face. "To think I had been under the impression that my dear cousin and I were friends," he leaned back in his chair dramatically, pressing his hand against his forehead as if he felt faint. "What a fool I was."

"Hanabusa I never said—" But before Akatsuki could argue with the blonde, in a crash Hanabusa's chair fell backwards and his head smacked against the floor, eyes wide with terror.

Akatsuki stood up to look at the other child with disapproval, crossing his arms. "Hanabusa if you had been paying more attention—"

"Shut up," Hanabusa muttered, crawling off of the chair and turning away from Akatsuki. "Go to sleep if you're gonna be mean."

Akatsuki had never been snapped at like that by the other, so he cautiously made his way over, shocked to see tears of embarrassment and pain in Hanabusa's eyes. "I was trying to say that we are friends, Hana," he sighed, sitting down next to him and slinging an arm around his shoulders. "So you can cry in front of me and I'll keep it a secret from everyone. Whenever you need to cry, okay?" he said firmly.

The blond child quickly wiped his eyes, sniffing. "I was just surprised, you know? It doesn't really count as crying," he tried to explain. He was surprised at the affectionate gesture; he wasn't terribly familiar with things like this. His parents were 'love from a distance' people and his sisters certainly didn't hug him. They were girls after all, and he heard that they had strange girl-germs that he wanted no part in.

He had to admit though that this was nice, and he tentatively snaked an arm around Akatsuki as well, secretly relieved. He constantly challenged his friendship, always wanting to renew their old promises of best friendship. That and he particularly hated going to sleep when he was told to.

The red head shrugged. "Well even if you aren't now, I'm still promising it. Okay? Now you should go to sleep," he sighed, using his free hand to get the chair back on its feet. "If you don't get any rest tonight I'll worry and it'll be your fault."

Hanabusa gave Akatsuki a quick, affectionate squeeze, one that his friend wasn't terribly sure he had actually been given it was so fleeting. With all of the emotions the young child was trying to convey in the hug, it had probably been too short, but he was too proud to fully expose himself like that, so when he had finished his meaningful little squeeze he jumped to his feet and climbed into bed, slipping under the covers. "Fine, however in the future I'll insist that you pay me back for assisting you with such troublesome worries," he said curtly.

Akatsuki covered his mouth to stifle amused chuckles before going over to his own bed and settling in, closing his eyes and allowing his mind to drift off.

Maybe he wouldn't have to get married to some aristocrat girl and run off to get married, have children or whatever else he was expected to do. Perhaps when he and Hanabusa grew up they could just have a house to be best friends in. After all, he didn't know anybody else that he trusted enough to leave them the job of keeping his dear friend out of trouble.

Opening his eyes once more to cast one last fond glance at his best friend, he once again closed his eyes and allowed the gentle waves of slumber so desperately calling to the young vampire to wash over him and engulf him completely.


	2. Chapter 1

((A.N. The first chapter didn't have an author's note because I decided that the prologue should have an air of mystery. This will be much longer than the prologue, and I hope you enjoy it. This skips from their childhood when the prologue was up to high school, if there was any confusion. Enjoy!))

The night was falling upon them as the group strolled leisurely to the grand school building in the distance, a comfortable, calm silence present amongst them. It was suddenly broken, much to the dismay of the other members  
of the group.

"The girls were so lively today, don't you think, Akatsuki?" Hanabusa chirped, pushing back a  
few stray pieces of his wild blonde hair out of his eyes so he could look over at his redheaded friend. He was blissfully unaware of the bitter looks he was receiving from the other vampires. They tended to appreciate silence more than useless talking.

Akatsuki sighed and ran a hand through his hair, obviously displeased at being pulled into this  
interruption of the peace. "You shouldn't lead them on like that," he muttered in an unenthusiastic response. He had tried time after time to get the same message through to the blonde and time after time he always seemed to fail. "You have no interest in any of them so you have no business flirting with them."

Hanabusa huffed, crossing his arms. "The girls all love it, though! If I stopped they would  
think that they had done something to displease me and they'd be upset," he protested.

Takuma chuckled. "I think what Akatsuki is trying to say is that you should be somewhat more  
reserved. The girls will be flattered if you just greet them every evening."

Hanabusa scoffed as the impressive doors leading into the school were opened and the vampires all filed in after Kaname Kuran.

Purebloods like Kaname always seemed to be so perfect, and Hanabusa was quite positive that he had never actually seen Kaname do anything that wasn't perfect. Of course he was only a class below Kaname but really that meant nothing. He couldn't compare to Kaname's level of power and prestige. Purebloods didn't even belong in regular vampire social pyramids, they were practically a species all on their own, and as often as Hanabusa disobeyed even the simplest rules that their dorm president had outlined for them, he was also guilty of being completely obsessed with the Kuran.

Akatsuki wished that he could say that he shared the same respect for Kaname that his friend had, but that would undermine the countless hours Hanabusa had spent obsessing over him throughout the years. Even when he was a child and he was convinced that he hated the pureblood, Hanabusa would spend days troubling over why people liked him.

Akatsuki liked to joke with the blonde that he was on his way to being completely obsessed with him and that he was only a couple steps behind worshipping him as a god, but Hanabusa never found the jokes terribly amusing, insisting that Kaname _was_ practically a god.

There was always a part of Akatsuki that didn't find the jokes terribly amusing either, really, even if it was for a slightly different reason. He didn't like the thought of Hanabusa's affinity for Kaname becoming anymore extreme. Joking about it just made the idea of it sound more ridiculous than it was and it calmed him down.

Selfishly, it was because Hanabusa already gave most of his attention to Kaname. Of course Akatsuki wasn't really angry about it. It wasn't his fault, but they were best friends and Akatsuki couldn't help but be jealous of Kaname when he effortlessly gained _his_ best friend's attention while Akatsuki had to toil away for a chance to talk about anything else with him.

It wasn't as though he really _worked_ for it, and he certainly wasn't jealous, that would be ridiculous. He wasn't one of those foolish day class girls that spent every waking moment attempting to grasp a moment of his attention, but it wouldn't hurt to talk about something else when they were lounging around in their dorm.

Akatsuki was pulled rather forcefully from his thoughts as someone slung their arm around his shoulders. He looked over to see that it had been the very person his thoughts had been occupied by only a moment before, a huge grin on Hanabusa's face.

"What're you thinking so hard about, huh Akatsuki?" he asked, flicking his cheek to get his friend's attention.

Akatsuki almost snorted. There he had been getting frustrated about a lack of attention and there was his best friend, eyes bright and curious as they scanned the redhead's face.

"I was thinking about you," he deadpanned, secretly delighting in Hanabusa's smile disappearing completely as he troubled over the words.

"What? What about me? You can't just say something like that without explaining yourself, it's completely unfair!" he complained, jumping in front of him and walking backwards so he could keep eye contact with him.

"It's almost time for class, let's go," Akatsuki pointed out, rolling his shoulders and passing him  
easily, brushing off the concerned look from the blonde. Hanabusa made himself far too easy to tease, and he heard Ruka snort from behind him.

"Aido it's perfectly evident that he's just making fun of you. What a pathetic 'boy genius' you  
are," she scoffed, and Hanabusa flushed and turned to defend himself, and Akatsuki glanced over his shoulder to watch as an argument flared up between the two. "I can't see why anyone would think about you anyway, you're a painfully simple and shallow being. There isn't much to think about."

Akatsuki slid calmly into his seat ran a hand absentmindedly across the smooth wood of his desk, allowing his Ruka to assure Hanabusa that what he had said was a lie. Coffee brown eyes swept across the room to see that everything was in its place, and when he saw nothing of interest he slid over to allow his bitter friend access to their bench.

"You gave Ruka the perfect opportunity to make me look like a complete fool in front of Lord  
Kaname," he hissed under his breath as class started.

"Lord Kaname would never think much of a casual conversation like that," Akatsuki sighed, finding it ridiculous that he would trouble over something so petty. "Besides, I doubt that he was listening anyway. He has other things to think about, I'm sure.

At that moment a soft "Good evening" drifted into their ears and the night class stood up, attention respectfully trained on their dorm president. Kaname's face was searched by a classroom of eyes for any sign that bad news was on its way, and when none was found the vampires were relieved.

"I received notice that there is to be a soiree in three nights, and it will be attended by representatives from an abundance of prominent families. All of you please prepare to represent the Night Class at this event, and you _will_ be on your best behavior." he announced, starting a crisp wave of "Of course" and "Yes Lord Kaname" throughout the sea of students as his eyes briefly met Hanabusa's with a serious expression, causing the blond to feel a blush forming in his cheeks. He quickly nodded and broke eye contact with him.

When they had settled back into their seats, Akatsuki glanced quizzically next to him to meet his friend's horrified expression.

"He expects me to ruin things," he mumbled, leaning his chin on the heel of his hand and staring forward, hoping that nobody but Akatsuki could see the ashamed blush on his cheeks. He was the only one who he knew wouldn't dream of making fun of him over something like this.

"I guess somebody really important is going to be there. Normally he wouldn't do that," Akatsuki reasoned, trying to soothe his crestfallen friend. To be fair, Hanabusa was only a troublemaker at school. When he was at parties he was nothing but charismatic and respectful.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt a rotten feeling growing in his gut. If Kaname would do something like this that he knew would scare Hanabusa into behaving, he was worried about this party. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary in Kaname's explanation of the soiree, but part of him was sure that he sensed a disturbance on its way to wreak havoc on his comfortable existence.


	3. Chapter 2

((A.N. I've been trying to get in as many chapters as possible before school starts so I don't exactly have a schedule at the moment, please bare with me and my spontaneous chapters.))

The three days that followed seemed to fly by at an impossibly fast speed, leaving the night class students slightly nervous for this event. Normally at events such as this one they would be indifferent, however after the specific request from Kaname Kuran to make a good impression on the other guests, they were all desperate to please him.

In fact the day before they were to leave Hanabusa decided not to go to sleep until he found something to wear that he deemed appropriate for the ordeal. The sun was high in the sky and Hanabusa found himself still awake in a desperate frenzy to find the right outfit for this occasion. Both overdressing and under dressing would embarrass Kaname and he absolutely couldn't stand to do either.

The worst part of this all, as far as his roommate was concerned, was that instead of quietly fussing over his clothing selection he demanded that Akatsuki stay awake and judge everything thoroughly.

No matter how many times Akatsuki told him that he looked wonderful and that he was sure every girl there would swoon when he walked in, Hanabusa would look in the mirror and pick out everything remotely unpleasant about what he was wearing until he was in such a panic that Akatsuki had to gently shoo him back over to his wardrobe so that he could change out of the clothes causing him so much grief and the cycle could start over again.

When the cycle had repeated itself ten times, Hanabusa was a nervous wreck, sure that he would make Kaname absolutely ashamed of him and that he was going to ruin everything.

Suddenly he felt Akatsuki grab his shoulder and he spun around. "Go sit down. I'm going to pick something out for you, and that's going to be what you wear. Do you understand? Then you're going to go to sleep so you don't get sick and pass out tomorrow," he growled, and Hanabusa retreated back to the couch, watching nervously as his friend rummaged through his wardrobe. If it were anyone else he'd be calling out suggestions desperately, but he decided to put his faith completely in Akatsuki. They were best friends, after all.

"This," Akatsuki demanded, walking over and thrusting the suit into his arms. It was baby blue with white details and a white tie, and Akatsuki thought that it looked nice with Hanabusa's corn yellow hair. He wasn't a fashion person really, not like some people, but he knew that he liked the suit on his friend. That was all he was going to go on considering how late in the day it was. "Don't try it on, just set it out and plan on wearing it tonight. Go to sleep."

Hanabusa opened his mouth to retort but thought better of it when he looked up and saw the harsh scowl on his friends face, and instead let out a high pitched chuckle in a desperate attempt to lighten the mood. "Yeah, I uh… I think this one was a good idea too."

Akatsuki's stiff posture relaxed and he smoothed out the front of his shirt giving a crisp nod, gesturing vaguely to Hanabusa's bed as he walked across the room to turn out the lights, the blonde scurrying to help out, closing the curtains.

"Sleep," Akatsuki commanded in a flat tone, but Hanabusa had already slipped under the covers of his bed, realizing just how tired he was when his head hit his pillow and his hands slid up from the encasement of the silk sheets to rest under his cheek. He rolled onto his side and brought his knees up a little, content with this position and allowing sleep to envelope him in its welcoming embrace.

Akatsuki watched him from his spot on the other side of the room, shaking his head. That obsession he had with Kaname Kuran was going to kill him one of these days.

"Good night," he whispered, too quiet for his drowsy friend to hear him as he collapsed into his own bed, sprawled out and too tired to even move his head onto the pillow before he fell into the clutches of his dreams.

All too soon night had fallen and he was shaking awake his roommate who didn't seem too keen on leaving the confines of his bedsheets, too tired to realize exactly why he needed to wake up after only a few hours of sleep.

"Look at your clock," Akatsuki groaned for the third time that night, relieved when his desperate request was followed. He couldn't quite understand the words his friend babbled, but he was pretty sure that every other word was something that he wouldn't dare to utter if Kaname was nearby.

It only took a moment's glance at the clock for him to practically fly out of bed, running to the wardrobe to find the suit that he had picked for the occasion.

"Akatsuki I absolutely cannot believe that you didn't wake me up sooner. If Kaname is angry at us, I'm going to tell him that it's all because you wouldn't help me last night and I had to stay up, and-"

"Hanabusa, you know that isn't what happened," Akatsuki interrupted, grabbing his friend's arm and steering him away from the wardrobe so that he was facing the foot of his bed where the suit had been laid out the night before, a whimper of relief slipping through Hanabusa's lips as he lurched desperately towards his bed, pulling off his clothes to change on the way there.

"I don't know where you get all of your energy..." the redhead muttered, shaking his head and sitting on the edge of his own bed.

His eyes were trained on the clock, willing the second hand to stop moving so quickly so that they'd have a little more time. Unfortunately time wasn't something that he had power over, and he was left wondering whether or not pure bloods possessed a power like that. He surely wouldn't be surprised by it, but he didn't know.

 _Hanabusa might know._

He couldn't help but push the thought out of his mind. Hanabusa did tend to know a lot more about Kaname than everyone else. It wasn't because the information was offered up to him of course; it was because he liked to stick his nose where it didn't belong, and while that practice could easily get people in trouble, those that stuck their noses where they didn't belong usually ended up knowing a few interesting tidbits of information that other people didn't. However he wanted nothing less than to think about Hanabusa's thoughts about Kaname.

It was an unhealthy obsession and he was worried about him. Yes, that was why he practically made himself sick thinking about it. Hanabusa would get himself hurt fussing over this damn pure blood.

His eyes shot wide open and he quickly shook his head, running a hand through his hair. How had he let a thought like that go through his head? He had nothing but respect for Kaname Kuran. Respect and perhaps that burning sensation in his stomach when he saw him and the inevitable clenching of his jaw.

It occurred to him that he should tell Hanabusa these things. He looked over at his frantic friend who was trying to squirm his way into too-small dress pants, hopping on one foot as he tried to get them over his hips.

"You're going to kill yourself like that."

The warning was responded to by indignant scoffing; the type of scoffing that, Akatsuki noted, was usually done be people not hopping around the room shouting obscenities at their pants.

"I know what I'm doing, I have gotten myself dressed before," he grumbled, just barely managing to work his way into the pants before running into his bed and buckling at the knees, plopping himself down on the mattress.

Akatsuki leaned back against the wall left of the closed wall, worried that he was going to hear the knock on the door signaling that it was time to go before Hanabusa could pull himself together. His fingers tapped nervously against his arm, his nerves not showing themselves outside of this little nervous twitch.

When Hanabusa had finally emerged victorious in the raging battle against his pants, he rushed over to the mirror, nervously rearranging his hair to no avail and swallowing. "So how do I look?" he asked, turning around and clearing his throat then folding his hands behind his back.

Akatsuki looked him up and down, his heart pounding. He was feeling something again, jealousy he presumed, when he looked at Hanabusa dressed up like that in a suit. He took a few steps forward, nodding. "You look fine, Hanabusa. Kaname will love it. Is that all you need?"

Before Hanabusa could answer, there were five loud knocks on the door. "Are you two finishing up in there? It's almost time to go!" Takuma called out through the doorway. "We can't wait for you."

Akatsuki turned towards the door. "We'll be right out, Takuma," he promised, gesturing frantically at Hanabusa to get him to hurry up.

"I certainly don't have a problem with it, but Kaname is getting a little impatient."

Before Akatsuki could explain that Hanabusa's initial laziness was the thing holding them back, that very same blonde had pushed in front of him and thrown open the door, a huge smile spread across his face.

"Sorry about that Takuma, I've been horribly busy all evening. I'm in frightfully high demand," he said, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead in an exaggerated expression of distress.

Takuma nodded with the sort of smile someone might give a four year old who's proud of a drawing. "Of course, yes, you certainly get messages from a lot of people," he agreed.

Akatsuki rolled his eyes and jammed his hands into his pockets, following after Takuma who was in turn following after Hanabusa who was strutting down the stairs to the commons. Nothing was wrong quite yet, but this cheeky mood of Hanabusa's generally spelled trouble for the redhead.


End file.
